Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Okay, so we're halfway though, playing catch-up at the end of episode five. This exhaustive ten-part Netflix series is clearly designed for those that like to slow down at accidents, for a proper look, wallowing in the grubby soiled mire of it all. If anything, we should be surprised by its popularity, but at the same time, slightly unnerved for the same reasons. Humans are worrying, sometimes deplorable creatures, and I'm not just talking about the star of the show.

Whilst not initially as versed in Dahmer's notorious history as some of our more local blood-thirsty lunatics in the UK, his actions are not so far removed from what we have already come across. There isn't much shock value left when you have seen the very possible worst that humanity can proudly present to you, blood still dripping from its fingers. Evil is not picky about its borders, after all.

Evan Peters has always had the look of lunacy about him, so is well cast here. He was frightening enough in AHS when he wasn't even trying to be. Now, as the eponymous Dahmer, he is unnervingly uncomfortable to watch. It's not like he looks like he's even trying too hard.

Whilst there is still half of the season to go, this is squaring up to be one of the streaming highlights of the year, not afraid to extol the story without glamourising the individual. There are attempts, of course, to explain the reason he became the notorious (icon?) which at least every grown-up American knows only too well, with regular trips to his backstory, his relationship with his father, played by Richard Jenkins, who split up from Jeffrey's estranged mother and then shacked up with, yes, that's right...Molly Ringwald! A real treat to see her back.

Looking forward to the last half of the season, if what's already gone is anything to go by.